Grab bucket



H. W. BOTTEN. GRAB BUCKET. APPLICATION FILED ocr. 2. 1920.

1,%3?,32, Patentei Dec. 5, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

H. W. BOTTEN.

GRAB BUCKET. APPLICATiUN man car. 2. 1920.

Patnted Dec. 5,1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

f7 W m.

Patented D es. 5,

entries stares HENRY W. BOTTEN, OF LAKEWOOD, OHIO,

SSIGNOB TO THE O'WEN' BUCKET COMPANY,

OF CLEVELAND, OHIO," A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

GRAB BUCKET.

Application filed October 2, 1920. Serial No. 41 L326.

1 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, HENRY W. Bor'rnn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lakewood, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Grab Buckets, 0t whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to grab buckets of the type employing acounterweight at the axis or connection between the jaws to open thejaws when the jaw closing rope is released and the bucket is suspendedby the holding rope.

l-leretoi ore buckets oi the counterweight type have employedacounterweight having its center of gravity either at or a considerabledistance below the axis of connection of the counterweight with the jawsor of the hinges attached to the jaws. This construction, whiledesirable in some respects, has the objection that the counterweightextends downward a distance such that when the opened bucket is loweredonto a pile of material the counterweight frequently engages materialand prevents the digging edges of the jaws being sunk into the material.

Likewise in buckets of this type, the opening movement of the jaws isusually limited by stops or shoulders on the hinge castings of the jaws,these castings being so designed that the stops or shoulders on adjacenthinges engage each other to stop the opening movements of the jaws whenthey have been opened a predetermined amount. This construction has thedisadvantage that the stops must of necessity be located close to theeyes or the hinges, and in consequence are located at the weakest pointof the hinges with the result that occasionally the hinges are broken atthe eyes by the sudden engagement or the two pairs of stops especiallywhen the open bucket is dropped onto clay or other hard surfaces.

In accordance with the present invention the counterweight has itscenter of gravity well above the axis of connection of the jaws or thepoints of attachment of the hinges with the counterweight, and thecounterweight and jaw hinges are specially constructed so as to comeinto engagement when the bucket is opened so as to hold thecounterweight in upright position or to prevent its rotating or tippingsideways when the tension or pull on the closing rope is released, andalso stop orlimit the opening movement of the jaws.

if he invention may be briefly summarized as consisting in certain noveldetails of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts whichwill be described in the specification and set forth in the appendedclaims.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings illustrating my invention Fig. lis a perspective view of a bucket embodying my in vention; Fig. 2 is abottom view of the counterweight and adjacent parts with the jaws open;Fig. 8 is an enlarged side view o'f the same; and Fig. a is a top planview of the same. r

The bucket here shown, has a pair of jaws 10, the outer corners of whichare pivotally connected by arms or links 11 with a head 12 in theusualmanner. The head is provided with the usual upper block 13 havingsheaves which are adapted to receive a closing rope 1d, the latter alsopassing about the sheaves of a lower block 15 which is attached to theupper part of a counterweight 16 to which the hinges 17 secured to theinner corners or the jaws are pivotally connected at 18. 3

This type of bucket is old and VJQlL'kDOWIl, and further descriptionwill be confined to the special features of the counterweight 16 andhinges 17 It will be observed both by re'lerenceto Figs. 1 and 2 thatthe counterweight 16 in this instance has its center of gravity wellabove the stud or bolt 18 by which the hinges are connected to thecounterweight. By having the major portion of theweight above the axisof the stud or bolt 18 rather than below it the bottom of thecounterweight is well above the digging edges of the jaws when thelatter are in full open position as will readily be seen from in view ofthe high center of gravity of the counterweight, the latter would have atendency to turn or rotate on its axis 18, and turn the block 15 througha half revolution or a portion thereof when the tension on the closingrope is relieved. This would be highly objectionable as it woulddisarrange the sections of the closing rope passing up and down betweenthe upper and lower sheave blocks.

As long as there is any pull or tension in the closing rope thecounterweight will be held by the closing rope in normal uprightposition andit is only when the jaws are full open and when the tensionis released entirely from the ciosing rope that there would be anyliability oi the counterweight rotating about the axis of the bolt 18 toany appreciable extent.

To prevent the counterwei ht turning when the are full open and to limitthe opening movement of the jaws I provide stops on the hinges 17 and 1construct the ends of the i-ounterweight so that the stops both on theinside hinges and outside hinges will engage the rounded lower side ofthe counterweight. I therefore provide special hinges having on theinner sides thereof, stop lugs 17, these being arranged on all :tour ofthe hinge members 17. However, inasmuch as the inner ends of two of thehinges lie next to the counterweight, and the inner ends of the othertwo hinges are outwardly therefrom, on one side of the counterweight thelatter is provided at its ends with extensions 18 so that these eX-tended ends of the counterweight will engage the stop lugs of the twooutermost hinges, and thus there is eliminated the necessity forextending the stop lugs of the outer hinges inwardly greater distancethan the stop lugs of: the inner hinges.

The stop lugs of all four hinges are provided with rounded counterweightengaging surfaces which engage the rounded lower portion of thecounterweight so as to stop the opening movement when the jaws reach thefull open position and so that when the jaws are in this position thecounterweight is positively held in upright position. Therefore thoughthe center Off gravity of the counterweight is elevated to a point suchthat the counterweight will not limit to any undesirable degree thedistance that the digging edges of the aws will sink into the material.the counterweight cannot rotate.

Furthermore. whereas with the prior constructions wherein the stop lugswhich engage each other to limit the opening movement of the jaws. wereof necessity located close to the eyes of the hinges, in the presentconstruction the lugs or shoulders which en gage the counterweight arelocated relatively remote from the eyes, and in practice. nine or teninches back from the center of the eyes. By increasing the distancebetween the center of the eyes of the hinges and the counterweightengaging stops or shoulders, I decrease the distance between the latterand the cutting edges of the jaws and thereby shorten the effectiveleverage through which is transmitted the force incident to theengagement of the open bucket with the ground or other surface, andtherefore re duce the strain at any one part ofthe hinge casting.Furthermore, the rounded or concave surfaces of the stops on the hingesengage the rounded bottom surface of the counterweight at such an angle,or in such a manner with respect to the direction that the force isexerted, that there is no direct impact in line with the force, and thestops have a tendency to slide on the bottom surface of thecounterweight so as to provide a give or cushioning action. Theseteatures contribute considerably to the durabilityof the bucket andpractically eliminate liability of the hinges breaking even though thebucket should bedropped a considerable distance with the cutting edgesof the jaws engaging a hard surface;

Having described my invention, 1 claim:

1. A grab bucket of the counterweight type havinga pair of jaws, acounterweight to which the jaws are connected, a head to which the jawsare attached, upper and lower closing blocks one carried by the head andone connected to the upper part of the counterweight, said counterweighthaving its center of gravity above the axis of connection between thejaws and the counter weight.

2. In a grab bucket of the counterweight type, a pair of jaws, a head towhich the outer portions of the jaws are connected, a counterweight towhich the inner portions of the aws are connected, said counterweighthaving its center of gravity above its connection with the jaws, andmeans for holding the counterweight against rotation when the jaws arefull open.

3. In a grab bucket of the counterweight type, a pair of jaws, head towhich the outer portions of the jaws are connected, a counterweight,hinge members connecting the inner portions of the aws to thecounterweight below the center of gravity of the counterweight, saidcounterweight and the hinge members having portions which engage whenthe jaws reach full open positlo'n.

4. In a grab bucket of the counterweight type, a pair of jaws, a head towhich the outer portions of the jaws are connected, a counterweight towhich the inne portions of the jaws are connected, said inner portionsof the jaws having stops adapted to engage the bottom of thecounterweight when the bucket is opened. I

In a grab bucket of the counterweight type, a pair of jaws, a head towhich the outer portions of the jaws are connected.v and counterweight,the aws having hinges which are connected to the counterweight and whichhave lugs adapted to engage the bottom of the counterweight when thejaws are opened a predetermined amount.

6. In a bucket of the counterweight type, a pair of jaws, a head towhich the outer portions of the jaws are connected, a pair ofcounterweight hinges connected to each jaw, the four hinges beingpivotally connected to the counterweight below its center of gravity,said hinges having lugs adapted to engage the bottom of thecounterweight when the bucket is full open.

7. In a grab bucket of the counterweight type, a pair of jaws, acounterweight, a head to which the outer portions of the jaws areconnected, hinges connected to the inner portions of the jaws andconnected 10 together and to the ends of the counterweight,-the innerends of two of the hinges being arranged on the outer sides of the innerends of the other two hinges, lugs on the inner sides of the hingesadapted to engage the counterweight to limit or prevent its rotationwhen the jaws are open, the ends of the counterweight having extensionswhich are engaged by the lugs of the two outer hinges.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature.

HENRY W, BOTTEN.

